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Nintendo is looking for startups to build new Switch accessories

Nintendo is looking for startups to build new Switch accessories

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The search for the next Labo could be on

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A Nintendo Switch
Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Nintendo is teaming up with venture capital firm Scrum Ventures to try to find new startups and teams working on more Switch accessories, according to a report from Bloomberg. One of the more interesting parts of the Nintendo Switch is its modular nature, which makes it easy to attach new components to the console. Now, it seems that Nintendo is actively looking for new ideas to continue to take advantage of that.

Working with outside companies has become a successful trend for Nintendo in recent years

As Bloomberg points out, openly searching for new companies to work with isn’t exactly a traditional Nintendo move, but given that the Switch is already a non-traditional console for the company, a non-traditional approach may be the right way to continue the forward momentum Nintendo has had so far. However, Nintendo has had successful partnerships with companies like Niantic and DeNA to develop mobile applications for Android and iOS (including the massively popular Pokémon Go), or the upcoming partnership with Universal to develop a Mario movie and theme park.

Scrum will apparently work with teams to pitch ideas to Nintendo in the fall, which will help to bring them to market, although neither company will actually be directly investing in the new startups. The program also excludes game design concepts — so if you’re looking to pitch a new game, this isn’t the place for it — but otherwise seems pretty open to new ideas.

The news comes as Nintendo is on the verge of launching its own, out-of-the-box Switch hardware accessory on April 20th: Nintendo Labo. It extends the Switch with homemade cardboard toys and games, letting players use the portable console as a giant robot suit, a piano, and more.

Update April 12, 3:30pm: Clarified language regarding hardware and software submissions that Nintendo and Scrum are considering.